Beauty and Fashion Tech

Christian Siriano Collection Now on Bluefly.com

For all of you Project Runway and Christian Siriano Fans, Christian’s line is now up on Bluefly.

I’m not overly inspired by the $96 T-shirts, but I do really like the pictured black cotton dress.

By Carleenp Posted in Misc., Stores | No Comments

Contest: Watch a Video and Win New Body Products from Whole Foods Market

New from Whole Foods Market is the Premium Body Care Standard and labeling seal of approval.

To provide education about the standard, Whole Foods has created a video cast and asked me to to spread the word. They would love to hear what readers of Beauty and Fashion Tech think. In the process, you can win a Zia Moisturizing Cleanser and Zia Nourishing Creme from Whole Foods Market.

To be entered to win, watch the new whole body videocast, then leave feedback about the video and new Premium Body Care standard in the “comments” section, with “http://www.beautyandfashiontech.com” in the “website” field on the comment form.

Remember that you must leave a comment and enter the Beauty and Fashion Tech link to be entered in the promotion.

Whole Foods will announce the winner on April 1! So go watch the video (it is pretty interesting) and give Whole Foods some meaningful feedback!

By Carleenp Posted in Bath and Body, Beauty Tech, Concealer, Sale or Promotion Notices, Stores, Video | No Comments

Why I am Disappointed in Target Stores

Blogging, while becoming rather influential in consumer choices, still is seen as the black sheep of media to various companies. Perhaps it is confusion with purely personal blogs or with spam blogs, or perhaps it is resistance to change and new forms of information media. Another theory is that companies have a fear of working with blogs because they tend to exist independent of advertising obligations, ad agencies, and public relations companies. So there is always a risk that a blog who speaks with a company or receives a product and hates it will tell it like it is, without sugar coating any unpleasantness. Why companies should not fall into that trap and should embrace blogs is a topic for another day. Today is about a more narrow issue: Target’s absolute refusal to talk to a blog.

Regardless of any black sheep stigma I carry as the editor of a blog, I have been pleasantly surprised at the number of companies, retailers, and public relations agencies that work with bloggers and form great working partnerships with them. So I was particularly disappointed in Target after reading The New York Times article, Target Tells a Blogger to Go Away.

Here is what happened. A blogger from the website, Shaping Youth, called Target to express concern about an ad displaying a woman lying over the Target symbol with her crotch at the bullseye. Instead of addressing her concerns, Target responded that it does not participate with nontraditional media outlets and stated that the practice “is in place to allow us to focus on publications that reach our core guest.” For a more complete story, visit Shaping Youth’s transcript of the New York Times interview.

Now I don’t have strong feelings about the ad, and I wouldn’t be offended if Target had sent a polite response but declined to give any interviews or written reply. But to reply that bloggers as whole do not reach the store’s “core guest,” and hence are apparently irrelevant, seems to be ignoring reality. I am assuming that the term “core guest” focuses on the typical, regular shopper at Target Stores.

Why should I care? Well, I write a good deal about drugstore cosmetic and beauty brands, including some exclusive to Target. I also tend to shop at Target for items for review, and mention Target as a location where products are available for purchase. So Target has received a fair amount of business purchases and gratuitous advertising from me– free advertising that is read by a demographic that I believe includes a high number of Target’s “core guests.” Yet apparently if I would like to communicate with Target in some manner related to my blogs, I will be told that I am not worthy. Does this mean that, vicariously, my readers are not welcome as well?

I am not the type to get overly worked up over such things and I’m sure that I will continue to shop at Target. But I do now find myself questioning future mentions of Target on my blogs. I can, and often do, purchase items for review at Walgreens and CVS, both of which have worked indirectly with me on products sold exclusively in their stores via PR agents representing those products. Perhaps in regard to business purchases and decisions, I should be focusing more exclusively on them?

According to The Daily Dog, Target is looking at adjusting their policy. I hope that do.

By Carleenp Posted in Blog roundups, Misc., Stores | 10 Comments

Ulta Cosmetics, Store and Eyeshadow

I took a little field trip to the Ulta store yesterday. Ulta stores are something like a cross between a salon, drugstore cosmetics area, and high end beauty counter. So there is something there for everyone. There are also more Ulta Stores in general than there are Sephora stores, so they tend to be a bit more accessible for many people. The Ulta store I visited carried all of the main drugstore brands of cosmetics, but also a number of upper end lines such as Smashbox, Urban Decay, Too Faced, Elizabeth Arden, and more. There was an extensive bath and body section, full section of hair products, and the store included a beauty salon. Looking to get a bottle of the Opi nail polish color that you chose with your manicure? You can get that there too.

I also learned that Ulta has its own cosmetic line, something that I was unaware of. So I picked up a couple of eyeshadows. At $6.50 per pan, the shadows are decently priced. Ulta arranges their cosmetics with sample tubes and pans available, which provides a nice way to try out the products before you buy and is pretty rare for products that are sold at a drugstore brand price. They also have a very good selection of colors.

Wearing my two new shadows today, I found that they compare nicely to other drugstore type brands. The shadows are not as highly pigmeted as some higher end brands, and I don’t think they wear quite as well as higher end products, but at $6.50 I wasn’t expecting that. In comparison to other brands of the same price, they do quite well. So if you are looking for drugstore range products, Ulta is worth a try since you can try on colors in the store and see just what you are getting before you buy. Further, if you find that you want to compare colors to drugstore brands, or if you want something more pigmented or higher end, you can simply walk to the other side of the store instead of making a special trip elsewhere.

I have to admit that I also visited the other, more expensive, side of the store. I couldn’t stop myself from also getting a Smashbox eyeshadow and a bottle of Opi polish. Overall, it was a fun field trip, and since the Ulta store is much closer to me than the Sephora store, I’m sure I will be back.